After a year of procrastination, President Joe Biden will finally visit East Palestine, Ohio, where a train derailment left the town in recovery mode after a toxic chemical spill devastated the community.
The president is expected to visit the small town after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials ran off the tracks on February 3, 2023, causing a fire that lasted for days and released poisonous smoke into the air and forcing residents from their homes.
The awaited trip comes after East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway and other community leaders invited the president to visit.
“I wrote a letter to him, him about a month ago saying that I think he needed to come. And I was gracious in the letter. I think he needs to see what’s going on here,” Conaway said.
Conaway, who is a Republican and not a fan of Biden, stated that he sent the invitation because he believed that it would be “good for his community,” according to the Associated Press.
To show his frustration, the mayor took a shot at Biden, stating that the president should visit while he’s on his book tour in Feb. 2025, suggesting that he will lose to former President Donald Trump.
WOW: East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway says the best time for Biden to visit would be February 2025 when he's on his book tour.
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— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) January 31, 2024
While the Biden administration has not released an official date of the visit, it comes after the town has waited a year for the president to assess the damage.
Biden was criticized after avoiding the area while Trump visited the distressed town within weeks of the accident.
During the White House briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that the president would help out whenever it benefits the community.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s in a rural area, urban area, suburban area, red state, blue state, the president has always been there to … assist and be there for the community,” Jean-Pierre added. “So, when it is helpful, he certainly will do that.”
According to Jean-Pierre, the residents of East Palestine have not needed Biden after the incident forced the residents from their homes and polluted their water.
Instead of visiting after the derailment, Biden had the Federal Emergency Management Agency appoint a coordinator to oversee the town’s recovery efforts and assigned the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate Northfolk Southern’s follow-through efforts. His Transportation Department has also put millions of dollars into rail safety grants and inspections.
Many believe that the delayed trip will have a dire impact on Biden’s re-election campaign. For residents, Biden’s current efforts to visit are too little, too late.
“I don’t know what the point is really,” said Jeremy Smith, a resident who moved to East Palestine after the accident. “It’s kind of a year late.”
Another resident, Joe Bethuy, shared his dissatisfaction with Biden not visiting after the train derailment. The 36-year-old steelworker and Republican stated that all the president had to do “was show up just for an hour or something.”
What is more of a slap in the face for residents of East Palestine is that Biden still has not declared a federal disaster in the small town, which would provide additional funds and assistance. The administration stated that since Norfolk Southern is paying the expenses and compensating the residents, there is no need for a federal disaster declaration.
The cleanup and helping the community rebuild is estimated to cost more than $1.1 billion, according to Norfolk Southern.
